This invention relates generally to insulation of engine components and more particularly to composite layered insulation for pistons, cylinder heads, and valves. Many modern insulation composites include pure ceramic layers employed in combination with adjoining layers of thermally insulative materials, particularly layers of metallic insulation. The ceramic layers thus utilized have been applied to the latter metallic layers by electrostatic deposition techniques, particularly, and more popularly, via plasma spray. A principal drawback of prior art ceramics as utilized with metallic layers has been the difficulty of adherence of ceramics to metallic materials. In fact, many of the failures of ceramic are attributable to the bonding agents employed to create durable adherence of ceramic to metal, the bonding agents being required chiefly as result of the large differences in thermal expansion coefficients of ceramics relative to metals. Another drawback, relating to the inherently brittle nature of ceramic materials, is that ceramic layers have a tendency to crack and flake away when used in high stress situations, such as those encountered in internal combustion engines.